Far Away From Home
by Dark Day For Anime
Summary: For all those who are a long way from their own.


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FAR AWAY FROM HOME  
by DDFA  
  
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I expected her to be there.  
  
She was.  
  
There isn't anything strange about that.  
  
People are ALWAYS where I expect them to be.  
  
It's a curse of mine, you see....  
  
  
I step up to her, softly and slowly, through the darkened   
halls of the Palace at night. She looks up at me, and gasps with  
surprise.  
  
"I.... I did not...."  
  
She stands to attention, and salutes me. I expected that from  
her. Originality in our relationship was rarely in her mind.  
  
"What are you doing here?" I ask, already knowing the answer.  
She shifts on her feet, uncomfortably.  
  
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean.... I mean, it was wrong of me to  
enter this part of the Palace, but...."  
  
I shake my head, brushing hair away from my eyes with one   
hand. "You can see the lights of the city from here. Is it not   
beautiful?"  
  
She seemed genuinely surprised at my question.  
  
"Y... Yes, ma'am.... They are very beautiful from here."  
  
"But they are not like the lights of your home city, are   
they?" She becomes introspective, turning away from me despite the  
fact that it is punishable by the laws of the Palace Guard to not  
display eternal deference to her superiors.  
  
"No, ma'am. They are not."  
  
"Tell me, then.... Why did you become a Senshi of the Palace  
Guard, if it pains you to be away from your family so?"  
  
"Because.... The calling is sometimes stronger than the   
heart." She looks up at me. "I did not ask to be a Senshi. It was  
what I am. To remain with my family...."  
  
"....Would have been frowned upon by them."  
  
She nodded. "Yes, ma'am." And with that, she returned to her  
formal posture. "I apologise for my familiarity, ma'am. I shall   
return to my duties."  
  
"Would it not be better to linger, for a while?"  
  
"Ma'am?" She raises an eyebrow.  
  
"To linger.... On the lights of the city.... If they so   
remind you of your home...."  
  
"That would be rude, ma'am.... I am not where I am allowed to  
be...."  
  
"Sad, isn't it.... That you are never allowed to be where you  
want to be.... Neither here, nor with your family." I watched her   
as she swallowed, trying to contain her emotions. "You have been a  
diligent officer.... Very few have spent the time you have within   
the bounds of the palace. That is, perhaps, the reason you are   
here."  
  
"Ma'am?" I smile at her, not with the good-naturedness that  
she probably expects the smile to represent.... It is a smile that   
I have perfected over the many years of my altogether too-long life.  
  
"Perhaps it is time for you to take a break from your duties.  
Go and see your family, before the bonds of blood are severed   
forever in your diligence."  
  
She stares at me, open-mouthed, not quite knowing what to say  
or even think. "I.... I'm sorry, ma'am.... I shall take it into  
consideration.... But my family may have other ideas...." She bows  
to me, and marches away, trying to maintain that stiff formality....  
  
Still, the seed of the idea was planted firmly in her mind....  
It took someone of my position and standing to say it, of course.   
Otherwise it would never have gotten through to her....  
  
I ponder over the lights of the city, and marvel at how close  
they, indeed, appear to be to the hometown of that Palace Guard....  
A hometown that shall soon be in danger, from internal and external  
political forces, unless there is the presence of a member of the  
court of Crystal Tokyo, no matter whom they may be....  
  
  
I expected that, too, of course.  
  
There isn't anything strange about that.  
  
Things are ALWAYS how I expect them to be.  
  
It's a curse of mine, you see....  
  
The curse of being Pluto.  
  
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/ @ \ DDFA (The Right Dishonourable Mark A Page)  
/ / ^ ^ \ \ ayanami@internode.on.net  
/\  
\/ \/  
\___________/  
/_/ \_\ PU  
  
Version 1.0 - Tuesday 29th September 1998 


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